How One Ministry Goes Beyond Filling Physical Needs

The needs in Denton County are great.

But the services and resources available in Denton County are insurmountable. 

In fact, there are more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations that address community needs, both large and small.

From housing providers to medical assistance (and pretty much everything in between), opportunities for support are ample.

And not only are there abundant options for people to choose from, access to such organizations is easier than counting to three.

The process is simple: 

When you’re in need of a certain service, simply go to that specific service provider. If you need food, go to a food pantry. If you need medical assistance, go to a healthcare provider. If you need a home, go to a housing provider.

(Organizations like Serve Denton are excellent for assessing your specific needs and connecting you with the perfect agency.)

But where do you go when you’re in need of hope?

Imagine a place where you could go and not only receive services that meet your needs, but also receive hope to carry you through that need?

That’s exactly what Vision Ministries does.

Filling the need to get to the root

When life gives you lemons, it’s not always easy to make lemonade. For many, the lemons of broken relationships, loss of employment, or a chronic medical condition leave people feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. 

Add the need for essential items such as clothing and/or food, and that burden only grows.

Vision Ministries serves the under-resourced of Denton County by providing food, clothing, and essential items. But that’s only where they start.

Vision Ministries understands that behind every presenting need there is an underlying need for hope, connection, and relationships. 

“Oftentimes the need for food is just the presenting symptom. We want to find out what the underlying issues are so we can provide resources that will help them with their greater needs.”

– Michael Pirtle, Vision Minsitries

Focused on meeting the greater need, Vision Ministries strives to build relationships with every individual who walks through its doors.

By seeing and filling those pressing needs such as providing assistance for food, clothing, and other essential items, they are able to look past the physical needs and get down to the root of each person. 

“Oftentimes the need for food is just the presenting symptom. We want to find out what the underlying issues are so we can provide resources that will help them with their greater needs,” Director Michael Pirtle of Vision Ministries says.

In the midst of a broken and hurting world, Vision Ministries’ main goal is to provide hope to the hopeless.

A holistic approach that sees the whole person

Their name, Vision, couldn’t be more fitting. This ministry has the vision and foresight to see past the physical needs to see the roots of people’s hearts. Bandaging a symptom can help bring temporary relief, but true long-lasting healing only comes from addressing the root.

Vision’s model for serving their neighbors is both profound and intentional.

Here’s how it works:

When a neighbor comes to Vision seeking assistance with various aspects in their life, they are paired with a Coach who sits down with them and assesses where they are in life and what approach of assistance would be best suited for that individual. In true Coach form, they present information regarding service options to each individual and come alongside them to guide them in their next steps. 

Next, the neighbor is paired with an Ambassador who acts as that person’s personal representative—someone to advocate specifically for them and their needs. These Ambassadors take each neighbor in need of food assistance through Vision’s food pantry, which is set up just like a grocery store. Individuals are given the opportunity to shop with their Ambassador and select their own food choices while talking about life and struggles in the ear of a trusted friend. They are listened to, they are given ownership, and ultimately, their dignity is honored.

And this food pantry isn’t just slim pickings either. By partnering with Denton Bible Church’s Cattle Ministry, Egg Ministry, and the community garden, Shiloh Field, these neighbors get the cream of the crop. Ample selections of pork, beef, farm-raised eggs, and locally-grown vegetables and fruits are enough to lighten anyone’s load.

But when it comes to helping these individuals and families, this is just the beginning.

When you build relationships, you are able to see the deeper needs. Vision Ministries uses its resources to serve its neighbors in need as an entryway to build a long-term relationship built on trust and mutual respect.

But it may not look like how you’d expect.

“Our main purpose is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. By doing so, we believe the other things will fall into place. We want our neighbors to flourish, and many times that looks 100 different ways to 100 different people. So it’s our job to listen, build relationships, and shoot people straight,” Pirtle adds.

Sometimes helping doesn’t always look warm and fuzzy. In fact, sometimes helping actually hurts.

When helping, hurts

When your main goal is to truly help someone—you can’t be a yes-man. 

It’s a known fact that giving someone what they want everytime isn’t always the wisest or best approach for long-term stability or autonomy. At times, helping someone is doing the opposite of what they might be asking for.

It’s the job of the help provider to look past each person’s pressing request to discern what options are best.

If every parent said yes to their child’s request for ice cream cones and candy bars, we’d have an epidemic of children with diabetes and obesity with no knowledge of how to care for their bodies.

If every teacher said yes to their students’ desires for top scores without them putting in the work, we’d have an epidemic of lazy and entitled thinkers who expect handouts but have no personal responsibility or work ethic.

It’s a known fact that giving someone what they want everytime isn’t always the wisest or best approach for long-term stability or autonomy. At times, helping someone is doing the opposite of what they might be asking for.

If every friend or family member said yes to their loved one’s request for drugs and alcohol, we’d have an epidemic of substance addicted individuals with no capacity for self control, resilience, or healthy tools for coping.

The same is true for the neighbors in our community who are hurting, and in need.

We all need people in our lives to come alongside us who have our best intentions at heart to guide us in truth and truly help in the midst of our need. 

This is the heart of Vision’s model.

Take Emily’s story, for example. 

As a homeless veteran who suffered from PTSD, Emily showed up at the doors of Vision a few years ago looking for anything to help her immediate situation. Rather than filling her pressing needs and sending her on her way, the staff and volunteers at Vision Ministries spent years building a relationship—not trying to solve every problem, but being there for her when she needed them. After years of difficult conversations, walking alongside her, and not doing things for her, she was able to learn the skills and gain the resources necessary to make a life change. A change that was of her volition and choice. 

You can give blankets and food all day long. But everything [Vision] put in front of her was a tool to help her in the long run.

She is now an involved member of a neighboring organization who speaks hope into other veterans on the street. 

You can give blankets and food all day long. But everything [Vision] put in front of her was a tool to help her in the long run.

Or take another common example.

A young man comes in needing help purchasing a bus ticket. Seeing he has a genuine need, your first reaction might be to hop up and buy him the ticket. But when he shows up time and time again expecting you to buy him another bus ticket, the question presents itself: have you actually helped him?

Vision Ministries approaches these situations with the end in mind. With their main purpose to see every individual flourish, they realize that tools, education, and experience are crucial to helping that person become autonomous and self-sufficient.

“If someone comes for financial assistance or help with birth certificates or bus tickets, we ask them to work at Shiloh Field in return for the amount of the services. We are not paying for them, rather they are earning their wages, as it’s much more dignifying for neighbors to earn that money. We are providing them a job which ultimately serves what their higher vision is, so they can ultimately become autonomous. We want them to know that, ‘With a little bit of work you can do this.’ We are setting in the principles by giving them the tools so they can help themselves,” Michael explains. 

The ultimate helper

As a ministry associated with Denton Bible Church, Vision Ministries knows that they might not have all the answers, resources, or solutions—but they deeply believe that faith in Jesus is the ultimate solution. Their message to all neighbors who come to their doors is, “I’m broken, you’re broken, but Jesus can fix us both.”

Vision Ministries believes God is the One who is the true healer and provider. 

And with true flourishing being found within the context of a relationship with Jesus Christ, they are able to provide true hope in everything they do.

So if you feel called to help and want to partner with an organization that serves more than just the physical, contact Vision Ministries to see how you can get involved. But know this: truly helping people takes time. If you’re looking to help in a short period of time, it’s better to leave the work up to the organizations who are in it for the long haul.

We must come alongside them, rather than doing for them what they can do for themselves.

Don’t worry if you can’t commit to long-term care. There are still ways you can help. As Vision’s needs are constantly adapting to serve the requests of our neighbors, you can help donate specific items and goods to ensure people get the assistance they need.

When it comes to helping the under-prividleged community, many times we have really good intentions. We see a need and want to fill it. But they don’t need someone who can do it for them—they need someone to encourage them to do it for themselves. We can’t create systems that enable folks to struggle and never learn to get out of their mindset. We must come alongside them, rather than doing for them what they can do for themselves.

And if you or someone you know is in need and don’t know where to turn—Vision Ministries is here for you. With almost 30 years of experience, their organization isn't going anywhere.